Shield and Sword
by julioanima
Summary: "This is your exam, so this time, I'll be the shield, and you'll be the sword. Got it?" ...Okay, did I just hear that right? A tiny mage like me as the sword?  Before the S-Class Exam.
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1 : Goodbyes, Clock, Train.  
**

"_Go home and prepare. We'll start your training tonight. It's going to last for a week, so finish all your business here first. I'll meet you at the train station at 8, got it?"_

Levy McGarden started packing her things up. Clothes, Trousers and Pants (Gajeel had said not to bring too much skirt, it'll make it harder for the training), and of course, her Books. She can't go anywhere without them. They're her lifetime partner, ever since she was a child. Even if they won't help in training, they'd help before and after it, so when Gajeel allowed her to bring them along, she was relieved, because she won't have to make the first clash against her training partner for the week.

Speaking of which, she wonders again how Gajeel become her partner. She had been chosen as one of the candidates of the S-Class mage exam. She sat on one of the bench in the guild, feeling a bit down after realizing her rivals (who clearly are stronger than her). Then he came. No hi, no chit-chat, he offers her his help to make her an S-class mage. Said things about motivation and making her big, and then told her to prepare and meet him later. It all happened really quick, actually.

She chuckled. Gajeel was not the greatest person at social interaction, but when it comes to speaking to the point, he's really great (he even managed to lift her spirit in what little conversation he made). It's not a bad thing, actually.

After packing her things, she decided to go around the town and say goodbyes to several people. She looked at the clock. 3.00 PM. She still have 5 hours until the meeting time. She decided to take a quick shower, get dressed, and went out of the dorm at 3.20. Not far from the dorm, she met her childhood friends and teammate, Jet and Droy of the Shadow Gear. They were waiting for Levi to get out of the dorm to talk to her.

"Levy, are you sure about this?" Droy asked, outrightly.

"About what? Participating in the S-Class exam? Of course I am! You guys know I've done a lot to get to this point," she answered.

"It's not about the exam. We're asking about your...partner in this exam. Gajeel," Jet said.

"Oh, about that? Well, I was a bit puzzled as to why he'd want to be my partner, but I don't think that's a problem," she responded.

"You do realize that this is the guy who once destroyed our guild..."

"and crucified us to a tree to declare a war between his guild, right?" Jet and Droy quickly asked her again, as if they're can't believe her answers was so casual.

"Yes, and I do realize that he's also the person who saved me from Luxus' attack, protected our Guild from being taken over by Luxus. Plus, he's a member of our guild now, not Phantom Lord's," she replied, with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

Droy and Jet stopped in their tracks. They looked down, guilt could be seen on their face. She then calmed down and speak

"Look guys, I know what he did was wrong, but can't you guys let it go already? From what I've seen, he's trying hard to atone to his past mistake, and that's why I trusted him. Simple as that,"

"...We know, Levy. We're just..."

"We can't forgive ourselves if something happened to you again. We failed to protect you more than once, and we..." Jet and Droy are talking, concern written on their expression, and Levy felt touched by it.

"Jet. Droy. You guys have done your best to protect me. It was me who can't protect myself, so don't blame yourself about it, okay?" she assured her childhood friends

"I might be a girl, and a bookworm at that, but I'm also a mage of Fairy Tail. I need to be able to protect myself, so I won't be failing anyone again. That's why I'm going to train with Gajeel, he knows best about independent way of living, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you're probably right," Droy said.

"...All right then, we won't try to stop you. But promise us, you won't do anything stupid. And if you ever feel in danger, just run and..."

"Call you guys, right? I know, both of you're the people I can depend on coming faster than anyone to help me," She continued Jet's word. She's glad she can make them understand. They're good guys , but sometimes a little bit overprotective. It's good to know they can trust her being able to fend to herself and trust Gajeel, too.

"But just in case, let us know your training place. We'll make a camp near there," They spoke, almost simultaneously

"Jet! Droy!"

After hugging her teammates, she said her goodbye and went to the town. The sky is covered by white flakes of snow, beautiful. But cold, nonetheless. So, she decided to go to the guild, to find a shelter and warming herself. There, she went and said casual goodbyes to the guild mates. She also said goodbyes to Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Elfman, Mest, Fried, and every single guild member. But she can't seem to find Cana and Lucy. After a while, she saw the snow is getting less, so she went out of the guild. Outside, she met Lucy.

"Hi, Levy!" Lucy called her.

"Lucy! I've been looking for you! I want to say goodbye to you,"

"What? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to train with my partner for a week. I need to get as prepared as I can, I want to make sure I'm ready for the exam,"

"Good for you! Actually, I'm going to train too, for the exam. So I want to say goodbye to you, too,"

"What? You're participating? As who's partner?"

"Cana's. I want to make her an S-Class mage, because of a reason..." Lucy trailed off a bit

'A reason?' Levy wondered for a moment. She wanted to ask what this reason is, but seeing Lucy is reluctant to say it, she kept the question in her mind.

"So, I won't go easy on you! You better be ready then, Levy!"

"Of course, let's both do our best! Tell that to Cana, too, okay? I didn't see her in the guild,"

"Okay, I'll be sure to tell her. By the way, Levy, who's your partner? Natsu's got Happy. Gray's got Loki."

"Loki? I thought he was your spirit?" Levy cut her, asking

"Oh, he is. But he can break the agreement by himself. Said he have a promise with Gray or something. Hmpf, selfish one, isn't he?"

"You got that right!" Levy nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, Juvia's with Lisanna, Elfman's with Evergreen, and I don't really know Mest that well, so I don't know his partner,"

"Elfman? With Evergreen? Wow, I didn's see that one coming,"

"Yeah, me too. Although, it might be because she's pissed at Fried who chose Bixlow as his partner, and wanted to show how wrong he is. Anyway, who's your partner? I didn't get the chance to talk to you in the guild because you get home too fast, and Jet and Droy were living dead at the moment, they weren't responding to my question at all,"

"Oh, my partner's Gajeel,"

"...Gajeel?" Lucy blinked.

"Yep,"

"...as if, Gajeel Reitfox?" Blinked twice.

"Exactly,"

"...The Iron Dragon Slayer!" Eyes wide, unbelieving.

"The one and only,"

"...and you said something about 'didn't saw that coming'. Did you asked his help?"

"Nope, he just came to me and told he's going to help. As simple as that,"

"That's another selfish one, just like Loki." Lucy smiled. She's glad that Gajeel can make friends with another guild member, because he seemed a bit inept at social departement. She's also glad that Levy had truly gotten over her trauma with Gajeel, considering what happened to her. It's a good thing for both of them, she thought.

"Well, it's your choice, so I hopeyou both can work together well. Anyway, when are you going to train?"

"Oh, I'm going at..."she stopped talking, staring deeply to her watch, before shrieked with panic

"Eek! It's 7.30 already! I need to go home fast, get my things and meet him at the train station at 8! Sorry Lucy, it's good to talk to you, but I really need to go now!"

Levy gave her friend a huge hug, and rushes down the street to her home

"Goodbye! Don't forget to tell Cana that I wish her luck, too!" she yelled.

She rushed open her room's door. She looked up at her clock, and cursed her bad luck. The clock's still showing 3.00. Of all day of all month and years, why must the clock disfunction at this day? After franctically gathering her packages, she stormed off to the station.

It takes 10 minutes to go from town to the dorm, 5 minutes to gather her things, and 20 minutes to go to the train station. The clock was already showing 8.05. She knows this is bad, the train at Magnolia town always arrive and depart at exact time. So if the departure time is 8.00, 8.05 is already considered a next train ticket. She ran to the 4th station, with little hope that the train haven't depart yet. And her hope was answered. The train hasn't departed yet. She wonder, why is it?

But her question was also answered, as she looked Gajeel in front of the train, holding the train from departing by pushing the it, keeping it at the station.

"Sir, this won't do at all! Even if you're a fairy tail mage, we need to get on with schedule!" The train engineer yelled, more like begged, to him.

"The damn clock's too fast! Another five minutes, is all my clock's sayin'!" He yelled back, effectively silencing the engineer.

She ran even faster to the train. At the train door, she met Lily, Gajeel's partner cat. Lily is watching the scene with amusement in his face.

"Oh ,Levy, you're here?" Lily said.

"Gajeel! She's here!" He yelled to him.

"Oh, get on board with her then, Lily! I'll be in shortly! You there! Open the door!" he yelled to Levy, then the engineer abruptly opened the door in haste.

They gets on board. Not so long after, Gajeel went in, and the train start moving.

"I'm so sorry! I'm late, and you have to-" she started to apologise, when he suddenly cut her off

"The damn clock's too fast at the station. They're the one who should apologize, not you. Now shut your trap, go to your seat and siddown!" is all he said.

And the train moves to the destination.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer : I do not own Fairy Tail and any of its characters.

* * *

**Part 2 : Train, Window, Stares**

_Story So Far : Levy had decided to (or forced to, whichever you prefer) team up with Gajeel for the upcoming S-Class test. To prepare for the test, Gajeel had scheduled a 1-week training session outside Magnolia. After saying goodbyes to her friends, Levy, Gajeel and Lily got onboard the train to the training spot…_

"Ms. Levy, Mr. Lily, and Mr…." The waiter paused a little, glancing to the man in question with a nervous expression "Gajeel, right? Here's your cabin. If you have any request, we would gladly offer our assistance! Have an enjoyable ride!" And with that, he fled awkwardly to the next trailer.

"Heh, gladly my ass," Gajeel entered the cabin first. He thrown his stuff on the luggage compartement. "His attitude doesn't match his words,"

"What do you expect?" Lily flew to the luggages, reordering Gajeel's and his stuff to neater composition. "Can't blame the guy being afraid to someone who stopped a passenger train with just brute strength,"

"Hmph. Whatever," Gajeel responded with a shrug.

"Um…"Levy, who was still standing in front of the cabin's door, let out a mumble that caught Gajeel's attention,

"I'm sor-"

"Another 'sorry' and my head will explode," Gajeel cut off before she could finish her sentence.

"Seriously, what are you sorrying for, bookworm?" He asked, while lifting her luggage from the hallway into the cabin.

"Here, let me take that," Lily took Levy's bag and put it on the compartment.

"W-Well, it was because of me being late that you went to stop the train back there. And because of that, people are looking at you like you're a…villain, which is not true. So, I thought I should be apologizing to you…" She sat on her chair, head hung down in guilt.

"Meh. Don't be. Like I said, the train was departing too early. If anyone's apologizing, it should be them," He replied to her.

'Besides, I'm used to be treaten like a bad guy' He thought to himself, and proceed to sit on his chair near the window.

Lily smirked at Gajeel. He knew Gajeel all too well. Just like Natsu said, although Gajeel acts like a Grizzly Bear outside, he was actually a Teddy Bear inside.

"Thanks," Levy told Gajeel, a little smile replaced her guilty expression from before.

"For what?" Gajeel asked her, confused.

"N-Nothing," she stuttered, and took a random book from her purse, averting her gaze from him.

Gajeel shrugged at her weirdness, and moved his pupils back to the view outside the window. And Lily couldn't help but letting out a chuckle, which make her even more nervous.

After calming herself, she asked her companions a question she didn't had the chance to ask.

"So, where are we going to train?"

"It's printed on the ticket," Lily hinted.

'Of course! How silly of me!' Levy thought to herself, feeling a little stupid.

"The place's a little far from Magnolia, so we should take our time and rest," Gajeel suggested to both Lily and Levy.

And, half an hour later, they fell asleep.

* * *

- Later -

"Next Stop : Ferraria Town. Next Stop : Ferraria Town. In 10 minutes, we will reach our next stop. If you are leaving, please make sure that none of your luggage are left, Thank You,"

Levy awakened to the sound of the announcer. Ferraria Town. That was the destination printed on the train's ticket. Eyes still closed, she tried to gather her minds first. After a while, she decided that she should wake Lily and Gajeel. She slowly opened her eye, but stopped halfway when she saw Gajeel, awake, staring at the window.

'Gajeel?' she thought to herself.

Somehow, Gajeel looked different to her. At first, she thought it was her sleepy eyes playing with her. But after a few moments of gazing at him without being noticed, she was sure about it. A dragonslayer naturally has keener senses than what normal human would have. Seeing that he hadn't sensed her awake and peeking at him, it was obvious that Gajeel was so absorbed at anything he was looking at was a certain aura of peacefulnesss around his figure. His arm was folded in front of his chest, his breathing calm, and his eyes was looking at the view of the town's surrounding with an…inexplicable expression. She couldn't quite define what kind of emotion was in his eyes. Sadness? Happiness? This confused her. What did he saw through that window, she wondered.

After a while, she realized that she had been watching him a little too long. Somehow, she felt wrong about it. And so, she decided to 'Wake Up'.

"Gajeel?" She called out his name, switching his attention from the window to her.

"Oh?" He snapped out of his trance. "You…"

He looked surprised for a split second, but he was quick to hide it and replace it with his usual, Gajeel the Iron Dragonslayer-ish expression.

"You're awake, good timing. We're disembarking in a few, gather your things and get ready to leave. Oh, and wake Lily up while I take the luggage outside," He swiftly gave his instruction and then proceeded to take down all the luggage to the hallway.

Levy was still curious about his strange…behavior before, but she decided to stay silent for now. Questions would have to remain questions for that moment. It didn't seem like he would give her any answers at the moment, anyway.

She just have to ask him later, when the moment is right. For now, she had to wake Lily before the train left the station.

* * *

**Author's Notes : I really have not updated this fanfic in a long time, and because of that, I apologize. It was a really busy time for me, and I kind of forget about some plot I had in mind (Is this what called the Writer's Block?) . Anyway, thanks for all the reviewers, and hopefully you can enjoy this chapter too. And hopefully it won't take me long to finish the next chapter :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer : I do not own Fairy Tail and any of its characters.

* * *

**Part 3 : Arrived, Exhausted**

_Story So Far : During the trip to their destination, Ferraria Town, Levy saw Gajeel acting unusual. Her curious mind wanted to ask him, but she didn't want to cause any awkward situation on day one of their training, so she didn't say anything (for now).Now, they had arrived at their destination…_

"Guide, miss! Need someone to to give you a little tour through this historical place? Only for 50 golds!"

First thing she saw stepping out of the train with Lily was a men with worn-out clothing, persistently offering guidance service to them.

"If you want a thoroughly tour to every corner of this town, you would pick me as your guide, miss!"

And another one.

"Don't listen to these frauds, miss! My tour is the best you can find here!"

And another. Before they knew it, a pack of guider had gathered before them, boasting their own tour packets and mocking their rivals'.

"We don't need any guide," Lily spoke while floating beside Levy, stopping the pack from shouting their offers for a few seconds. Perhaps they were not used to see a talking and flying cat. Not like Exceed is a common sight though, so she understood their confusion.

"I'd give your pet a bath, too!"

One of the guider threw a new proposal to broke the silence, only to be followed by various new offerings (pet food, walk on the park, etc.) from the other Guiders, a chuckle from Levy, and a slightly angry Lily whom immediately turned to his Battle form, effectively baffling the pack once again.

"Which pet?" He threw these words with a slight grimace (resembling Gajeel's) that made the guides gulped simultaneously.

She knew Lily was just messing around with them, he would never start a fight over such a trivial matters. But she felt she should stop him before these guides went running and call local security to capture them. So she nudged Lily's side, and he turned back to his exceed form, grin still plastered on his face.

"Sorry, but we really don't need guide. We're not here for vacation, we're here for our training,"

"Still, you need a guide to accompany you through this town, miss! Even moreso at time as this!" The guider pointed to the setting sun, signaling the night is crawling.

"What kind of training you are doing here, anyway, miss?"

"What do you bastards care for?" Gajeel stepped out of the train with a heavy stomp. Every single guider looked up to the source of the voice. Upon seeing his figure, their expression changed to that of fear, and they backed two steps from their original position.

"She's with me. No need for any of you guide-shits. Scram,"

And with that said, they all walked off to different directions, away from Gajeel.

"Aren't you being too harsh on them?" She protested to his method of shunning those guider. They might be a little annoying, but he doesn't have to scare them that way, she thought.

"You're too soft. They shows innocence right now, but when you're not paying attention, they'll rob anything they can from you. Trust me, I know these kind of scums," He replied to her.

"Take your stuff. We'll walk to our camping spot," He pointed to a pathway leading to a forest.

"Walk? Why don't we take a ride?" Levy inquired.

"No rides around this clock. Besides, you can consider this as a warm-up for tomorrow's training,"

"Then why must we go camping? And walk through the forest, even more so. Isn't there any path near the town?"

"Like I said," He grinned, "Consider this a warm-up,"

* * *

- An Hour of Walking Later–

"Here we are," Gajeel said to his two companions behind him, one with a few sweat, and one who looked like she could collapse any time.

"A cave?" Lily's first words after seeing the place Gajeel had brought them to.

The cave's entrance was pretty big. It was comparable the size of Doromu Anima, the giant machine used by the king of Edolas during the battler of Edolas. From a glance, the exterior of the cave looked craggy.

'It seemed we're in for a bumpy sleep' Lily thought.

"A mine, actually," Gajeel confirmed, "I figure this place would suffice,"

"Can…we…go inside…now?" Levy surprisingly managed to let out some words, considering how exhausted she was.

"Didn't expect you to be awake, bookworm. I thought you would've fainted halfway here," That was meant to be a compliment for being able to pass the forest, but as far as Gajeel's ability to convey his thoughts to words, that was his best take on a praise.

"Come on, let's go inside,"

Inside, the mine was bigger. The interior was rather different from both Lily and Levy's expectations. The floor's contour was pretty smooth; there was no large bumps or cracks that threatens to scar their sleep. On the top of the mine was a decently sized hole, exposing the light of the moon right into the mine, giving a clearer sight for what's inside.

There was a really large space on the deep left part of the mine. The area was covered with dried leaves, which make it as a suitable place to sleep. Conveniently, there was also a rather smaller space surrounded by pillars of rocks on the right side. It resembled a small room, with bed made of rock covered with dried leaves. The Room doesn't have the luxury of being exposed to the moonlight's glow, though. Luckily, Gajeel had brought a lantern for lightning purpose.

On a further inspection, Lily saw a large pile of rocks blocking what appeared to be a giant hole on the deeper part of the mine's wall. It seemed like the mine was digged, but the diggers had abandoned the place.

"You can sleep there," Gajeel told to Levy while pointing to the small room. It was thoughtful of him , Levy thought. Girls needs privacy when they sleep, and she was relieved when he gave her the room.

"Lily and I will sleep there," He gestured to the pile of dried leaves on the left side of the mine. "If you need anything, just call me or Lily out, we'd hear you,"

"Now hit the bed. You'll need your energy for tomorrow's training," And with that, Gajeel closed the room's door.

She wanted to thanks him for giving her the only room, but she was too tired for anything. She put her stuff beside her bed, changed to her pajamas, wrote magical scripts of 'Pillow', and dozed off right away.

Meanwhile, Lily who was inspecting the mines stroked his chin. He was curious, how come Gajeel could coincidentally find such a perfect camping place. He had asked him, but his 'I followed my dragonslayer's instinct' answer didn't actually helped his curiousity. He yawned, all this trip and thinking had tire him. He just have to find out things by himself tomorrow, when all his gears is on the right places.

* * *

**Author's Notes : Thanks for all the reviews so far, I really appreciate it, it drives me to continue this story. This chapter might appear a little rushed, but this is the best I can do at the moment. Truth is, my notebook went bluescreen :( and I promised to myself I would finish a chapter the day I can fix it. And guess what? I watched some tutorials and managed to fix it! So in order to fulfill my promise, I finished this chapter today. Hehe :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer : I do not own Fairy Tail and any of its characters.

* * *

**Part 4 : **

_Story So Far : Gajeel, Levy and Lily had arrived at Ferraria Town, and Gajeel managed to found an old mine, perfect to be their camping spot. Lily found it way too convenient for them to find such good camping place. He thinks Gajeel is hiding something from him, but he shrugged the thought and went to bed. For when the morning comes, the training will begin…_

The morning breeze felt cold to her skin, sending a pang of chill through her spine. She gazed upward, eyes inspecting the sky. The sun is beginning to rise from its slumber, its light breaking through the leaves of surrounding trees. The view is really beautiful, she thought. She rarely saw this kind of scenery back in Magnolia, mainly because of two reasons:

The buildings in the town is blocking any direct sight to the morning sun from her apartment

She had never been awakened so early in the morning

Yes, the night hasn't even shifted to dawn yet, but Gajeel and Lily had awakened her from her rock-bedside. Although a small portion of her mind tempted her not to stand up from her rocky mattress, she gave in to her companion's third knock and sixth 'Oi! Wake up already!' call.

And so, there she was, in another trip in the forest with Gajeel. Lily had stayed at the mine to look after their stuffs.

'Don't want any stray animals breaking in and wreaking havoc on their luggage on your first day of training, wouldn't we?' or something along that lines.

That left her and Gajeel in what seemed to be another warm-up session, just like Yesterday's. This time, though, she wasn't as tired. The thought of her first training fueled psyched her, making any kind of exhaustment fade away. That, and Gajeel's strides today weren't as wide as yesterday, which made the trip less tiring.

A number of trees later, Gajeel suddenly stopped his step. Levy, who was enjoying the scenery, bumped right to his back.

"What is it, Gajeel?"

"This is the place. We'll train here,"

She looked around. The training spot was an open field, probably as wide as the guild's. A few large tree stood firmly around, their shadow covered most of the field.

"Over here, bookworm," Gajeel called out to her nickname. Although she had expressed her disagreement to the name several times, Gajeel still wouldn't stop calling her with it. She eventually gave up protesting, and got used to the name eventually.

"What are those?" She pointed to a mound directed on the direction Gajeel took her. The mound was covered with a big, old cloth. It looked like a stack of…bodies? Now she feel scared to see what was beneath the cloth.

Gajeel smelled a hint of fear from her question. "Relax, it ain't human bodies, if that's what you think it is," He took the clothing, revealing a set of dummies, made of iron. She breathed a sigh of relief, which in turn induced his chuckle.

"What's so funny?" She asked him with a pout of annoyance and slight blush of embarrassment.

"You and your imagination. Read one too many fictional books, huh? What is it, Friday the 13th?" He started to pick the dummies and setting them on the field.

"W-well, how am I supposed to know what's beneath it! In my defense, they looked like real bodies beneath that piece of cloth!" She tried to defend herself. And then, a question appeared on her mind.

"How did you know what's beneath it anyway, Gajeel? Have you come here before?"

He suddenly stopped in his track. He turned back, looking at her.

"O-of course I knew it," He trailed for a split-second.

"I knew it, because…," He shifted his gaze to the dummies, and then back to her. "Because I made the dummies! I prepared them…last night! For the training!"

"Oh, wow. You made them in such quick time? You're good!" She praised him.

"You know, if you do blacksmith for living, I bet you'd make a good fortune!"

"Y-yeah, maybe. Now, where's dummy noumber 4?" He went back to the stack of dummies. It seemed like he wants to start the training as fast as possible.

But her question didn't end there. "Where did you make it, though?"

"Where-The mines, of course,"

"But I didn't hear any noi-"

"Oh, stop talking and help me lining these stuff already, will ya! We'd train until night at this pace!"

She did not waste any time lining the dummies up.

* * *

- Later–

The dummies were finally in place. After ensuring the pegs are firmly planted on the ground, he turned to Levy, who were enthusiastically waiting for his trainer's instruction in the middle of the field.

"All right, all's set. You'd better be ready, 'cause your training starts now," He strode to her direction.

"You bet!" She yelled her readiness.

"Good, that's the spirit" He stood behind her, arms crossed like a wise man. "Now, go!"

…

*Whoosh* the wind blew.

"Um…'Go!' what, trainer?" She inquired him, question marks looming over her head.

"Go do your training, shorty!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do? You hadn't tell me what kind of training this is!"

"I hadn't-!" He paused, before reminiscing every single past event going ever since they had boarded the train. Yep, they never had any briefing session yet.

"– Oh, damn, yeah. Sorry 'bout that,"

"That's fine," She shook her head. "Now please do tell, what training I should do,"

"All right-," He was going to explain the detail, when she immediately cut him off.

"Oh, and please, no more nicknames. One is enough. I'm afraid I'd forget my real name if you keep calling me different stuff,"

"Okay, okay already! Dammit, bookworm! You want to hear me or not?"

"I'm listening," She smiled, satisfied by his answer.

"Finally. Now, first of all, I want to recap some things first, regarding the exam," He started explaining.

"It's an exam where 8 of you, Juvia, Salamander, Ice mage, Real-man dude, Kid's partner, and Laxus' henchman are competing to be…" Gajeel closed his eyes. He looked like he was trying to remember a line from a speech.

"An S-Class mage?" She finished the sentence.

"Yeah, that. And each of you are told to look for partners,"

"Yes, I know that. And the point of this recap is?"

"Since this is a battle of teams, that means the test would involve…working together…no, no…teaming together? Nope…What was it?" There he goes again, loss at word.

"…Teamwork?"

"Yeah, that. And since that means I can't just go rampaging alone with you trailing behind me, we need to work out some kind of teamwork,"

"That makes sense…"

"That's what you and I would train on, teamwork. And our teamwork would be codenamed : 'Shield and Sword', got it?"

"Shield and Sword?" Sounds like a good plan. She can provide him some support while he's striking down the other groups. Gajeel really had think this through, she thought. "So, what should I train on, Mr. Sword?"

"Actually, in this plan," He took a breath before telling her the full plan "You are the sword, bookworm,"

A pause. None of them made a sound for a few second.

"…Excuse me? Did I hear it wrong?" She couldn't believe what her ears just heard.

"No, you heard me right, Ms. Sword. I mean, bookworm,"

* * *

**Finally, the training chapter starts. It took me more than a week to finish this chapter proves that I'm a lazy writer. Hope I can finish the next one within next week (need to erase this procrastinator trait off me). And I hope you can enjoy this chapter too. See ya! **


End file.
